Saturday, July 27, 2013

Fred and Ginger and Dries

When I was little and watching my Saturday morning routine of old movies, I always loved when a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie came on. Boy could she dance! But, of course, I was really more drawn to the gowns. One of my favorites was the feather dress from Top Hat. I am not sure if you have ever worn a feather anything but if you have, you will know that feather pieces tend to 'molt'. You leave a trail of fluttery feathery bits everywhere you go.

So I can imagine that Fred was none too pleased when Ginger showed up - unexpectedly - in this feather gown which, when they rehearsed the scene, saw feathers fly into his face, against his tuxedo and onto the dance floor. But Miss Rogers was not to be deterred from wearing the gown and it became one of their most famous and striking dances.

But there was also one part of me that wanted to be able to bust the moves like Fred Astaire:

So I was super excited that for Fall 2013 Dries Van Noten, one of my favorite designers, was inspired by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers mixed up together, a little masculine, a little feminine and, of course, a whole lot of feathers...